When our clients told us they wanted a contemporary space without a lawn and a garden that would attract birds, bees, and butterflies, it was music to our ears! 

This trio of wildlife is vital to pollinating and reproducing flowering plants and producing the fruits and vegetables we eat. Indeed, a pollinator makes one out of every three mouthfuls of food possible! No matter how big or small, every garden can provide a habitat for pollinators and other wildlife. Each garden then links with a network of public parks and streets to create little green habitats throughout the city, eventually spreading to the surrounding rural areas.

Our plant choices of echinacea (white), penstemons (red), and coreopsis (yellow) tick all the boxes for attracting beneficial insects. They’re also long-flowering and make great cut flowers. A lovely maple tree was planted to eventually grow and provide shade while also giving plenty of seasonal interest.

We chose a Camellia “Night Rider” for hedging along the raised garden bed to help screen off the fence and eventually provide the space’s privacy and visual height. It is a beautiful deep purple/red-toned flower with prominent orange/yellow stamens that flower from winter to spring, adding interest while the rest of the garden is still sleeping.

We painted the fence and the existing deck to create a harmonious colour scheme. We then chose large 900×600 grey pavers to complement the deck and bring in a more contemporary vibe. The raised garden bed was built using macrocarpa, which will age and silver off over the next 12 months and provide a lovely, warm feel with lots of character.

One of our challenges was an existing concrete pathway from the deck to the garage door. Rather than spend the budget to remove this, we decided to install the pavers over the top to cover it up. This meant we had to raise the rest of the pathway on the existing ground, but that also allowed us to raise the ground-level garden beds, which meant we could improve the poor clay soil with compost, new garden mix, and a good layer of mulch.

We used a creeping ground cover called Dichondra to fill in the spaces between the pavers. This softened the surrounding hardscape and created a lovely, lush feel that invites you to journey through the garden.